Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration is receiving criticism for using private-messaging apps on their government-issued cell phones, which allows them to delete messages or keep them private through encryption.
According to Errors of Enchantment, Santa Fe New Mexican Government Reporter Daniel Chacón wrote an article that criticized Grisham and staffers for using the app on government-issued phones. Chacón claimed the app allows government employees to delete conversations and use end-to-end encryption, enabling them to keep conversations they didn't delete private.
Patrick Brenner, an activist with the Rio Grande Foundation, wrote in Errors of Enchantment that use of private messaging apps goes beyond Grisham’s administration.
"I’ll call your bet and raise you: It’s not just the staff of the executive branch; it’s dozens of state agencies. They are using encrypted messaging platforms, and they’re also enforcing the automatic deletion of messages after 24 hours," Brenner said.
A Searchlight New Mexico report on the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) revealed employees were using an encrypted mobile app for messaging that allowed them to delete messages, which is in violation of public transparency laws.
Brenner added that New Mexico’s Department of Information Technology, which is responsible for the deployment of resources like Microsoft Office and other business software, changed the configuration settings to allow the deletion of team chat messages after 24 hours.
Brenner said that after requesting public records through a formal submission process daily, he was unable to get the records before they were deleted.
WhatsApp and the Signal app, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, were also on other staffs' taxpayer-funded phones. Two of those staff members included Grisham spokespeople Tripp Stelnicki and Nora Meyers Sackett.